Physics Commons^™

Physics I, Kalani Hettiarachchilage

Open Educational Resources

Physics I, class code PHY 116 at College of Staten Island is the first part of a two-semester algebra-based introductory physics course. This course overlaps many topics in the laws of classical mechanics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, wave motion, and sound. The important laws of physics in these areas and problem-solving are emphasized. Problem solving is an integral part of the course, all contents are designed to think critically, analytically, and logically. Conceptual understanding is reinforced using interactive computer-based techniques, demonstrations, problem-solving strategies, and laboratory experiences. In this document, all the class materials including lectures, worksheets, homework and group work assignments, …

A Torsion-Based Rheometer For Measuring Viscoelastic Material Properties, Merrill E. Asp, Elise Jutzeler, Jakub Kochanowski, Katherine Kerr, Dawei Song, Sarthak Gupta, Robert Carroll, Alison E. Patteson

Physics - All Scholarship

Rheology and the study of viscoelastic materials are an integral

part of engineering and the study of biophysical systems. Tissue rheology is even

used in the study of cancer and other diseases. However, the cost of a rheometer is

feasible only for colleges, universities, and research laboratories. Even if a rheometer

can be purchased, it is bulky and delicately calibrated, limiting its usefulness to the

laboratory itself. The design presented here is less than a tenth of the cost of a

professional rheometer. The design is also portable, making it the ideal solution to

introduce viscoelasticity to high school students …

Understanding Noether’S Theorem By Visualizing The Lagrangian, Seth Moser

Physics Capstone Projects

By approaching Lagrangian mechanics from a graphical perspective the implications of Noether’s Theorem can be made easier to understand. Plotting the Lagrangian for classical single particle systems for one coordinate onto a position-velocity phase space along with the corresponding equations of motion can demonstrate how a system is invariant under continuous transforms in that coordinate. This invariance can be shown to be associated with a quantity in the system that’s conserved via Noether’s Theorem. The relationship between the symmetry of the system and conserved quantities can then be extended to fields. Invariance in this case is extended to include invariance …

Galileo's Contribution To Mechanics, Asim Gangopadhyaya

Physics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Asim Gangopadhyaya writes about Galileo's contributions to mechanics and physics in this chapter in Where Have All the Heavens Gone? Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina edited by John P. McCarthy and Edmondo F. Lupieri.

Comment On "Roles Of Bulk Viscosity On Rayleigh-Taylor Instability: Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics Due To Spatio-Temporal Pressure Fronts" Phys. Fluids 28, 094102 (2016), Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Time-Reversal Symmetric Resolution Of Unity Without Background Integrals In Open Quantum Systems, Naomichi Hatano, Gonzalo Ordonez

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

We present a new complete set of states for a class of open quantum systems, to be used in expansion of the Green’s function and the time-evolution operator. A remarkable feature of the complete set is that it observes time-reversal symmetry in the sense that it contains decaying states (resonant states) and growing states (anti-resonant states) parallelly. We can thereby pinpoint the occurrence of the breaking of time-reversal symmetry at the choice of whether we solve Schrödinger equation as an initial-condition problem or a terminal-condition problem. Another feature of the complete set is that in the subspace of the central …

Information-Preserving Structures: A General Framework For Quantum Zero-Error Information, Robin Blume-Kohout, Hui Khoon Ng, David Poulin, Lorenza Viola

Dartmouth Scholarship

Quantum systems carry information. Quantum theory supports at least two distinct kinds of information (classical and quantum), and a variety of different ways to encode and preserve information in physical systems. A system’s ability to carry information is constrained and defined by the noise in its dynamics. This paper introduces an operational framework, using information-preserving structures, to classify all the kinds of information that can be perfectly (i.e., with zero error) preserved by quantum dynamics. We prove that every perfectly preserved code has the same structure as a matrix algebra, and that preserved information can always be corrected. We …

Quantum Interference Experiments, Modular Variables And Weak Measurements, Jeff Tollaksen, Yakir Aharonov, Aharon Casher, Tirzah Kaufherr, Shmuel Nussinov

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We address the problem of interference using the Heisenberg picture and highlight some new aspects through the use of pre-selection, post-selection, weak measurements and modular variables. We present a physical explanation for the different behaviors of a single particle when the distant slit is open or closed; instead of having a quantum wave that passes through all slits, we have a localized particle with non-local interactions with the other slit(s). We introduce a Gedanken experiment to measure this non-local exchange. While the Heisenberg and Schrodinger pictures are equivalent formulations of quantum mechanics, nevertheless, the results discussed here support a new …

Applying A Resources Framework To Analysis Of The Force And Motion Conceptual Evaluation, Trevor I. Smith, Michael C. Wittmann

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

We suggest one redefinition of common clusters of questions used to analyze student responses on the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation. Our goal is to propose a methodology that moves beyond an analysis of student learning defined by correct responses, either on the overall test or on clusters of questions defined solely by content. We use the resources framework theory of learning to define clusters within this experimental test that was designed without the resources framework in mind. We take special note of the contextual and representational dependence of questions with seemingly similar physics content. We analyze clusters in ways …

Comparing Three Methods For Teaching Newton’S Third Law, Trevor I. Smith, Michael C. Wittmann

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

Although guided-inquiry methods for teaching introductory physics have been individually shown to be more effective at improving conceptual understanding than traditional lecture-style instruction, researchers in physics education have not studied differences among reform-based curricula in much detail. Several researchers have developed University of Washington–style tutorial materials, but the different curricula have not been compared against each other. Our study examines three tutorials designed to improve student understanding of Newton’s third law: the University of Washington’s Tutorials in Introductory Physics (TIP), the University of Maryland’s Activity-Based Tutorials (ABT), and the Open Source Tutorials (OST) also developed at the University of Maryland. …

A Temporal Approximate Deconvolution Model For Large-Eddy Simulation, C. D. Pruett, B. C. Thomas, C. E. Grosch, T. B. Gatski

CCPO Publications

A temporal approximate deconvolution model (TADM) is developed for large-eddy simulation and is demonstrated for plane-channel flow at Re-tau=590. The TADM combines explicit causal time-domain filtering with linear deconvolution (defiltering) to approximate unfiltered fields and residual stress to arbitrarily high order. The TADM methodology appears to lead to a robust family of residual-stress models that should provide a viable alternative to conventional (spatial) filtering for applications in which spatial filtering is problematic, e.g., for problems requiring unstructured or highly stretched grids. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

The Temporally Filtered Navier-Stokes Equations: Propertes Of The Residual Stress, C. D. Pruett, T. B. Gatski, Chester E. Grosch, W. D. Thacker

CCPO Publications

Recent interest in the development of a unifying framework among direct numerical simulations, large-eddy simulations, and statistically averaged formulations of the Navier-Stokes equations, provides the motivation for the present paper. Toward that goal, the properties of the residual (subgrid-scale) stress of the temporally filtered Navier-Stokes equations are carefully examined. This includes the frame-invariance properties of the filtered equations and the resulting residual stress. Causal time-domain filters, parametrized by a temporal filter width 0infinity, the residual stress is equivalent to the long-time averaged stress, and the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are recovered from the temporally filtered equations. The predicted behavior at the …

Analyzing Mean Transport Equations Of Turbulence And Linear Disturbances In Decaying Flows, W. D. Thacker, T. B. Gatski, C. E. Grosch

CCPO Publications

The decay of laminar disturbances and turbulence in mean shear-free flows is studied. In laminar flows, such disturbances are linear superpositions of modes governed by the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. In turbulent flows, disturbances are described through transport equations for representative mean quantities. The link between a description based on a deterministic evolution equation and a probability-based mean transport equation is established. Because an uncertainty in initial conditions exists in the laminar as well as the turbulent regime, a probability distribution must be defined even in the laminar case. Using this probability distribution, it is shown that the exponential decay of the …

Selective Decay And Coherent Vortices In Two-Dimensional Incompressible Turbulence, William H. Matthaeus, W. Troy Stribling, Daniel Martinez, Sean Oughton, David Montgomery

Dartmouth Scholarship

Numerical solution of two-dimensional incompressible hydrodynamics shows that states of a near-minimal ratio of enstrophy to energy can be attained in times short compared with the flow decay time, confirming the simplest turbulent selective decay conjecture, and suggesting that coherent vortex structures do not terminate nonlinear processes. After all possible vortex mergers occur, the vorticity attains a particlelike character, suggested by the late-time similarity of the streamlines to Ewald potential contours.

Some Contributions Of Pure Math To Science, Herbert B.E. Case

Student and Lippitt Prize essays

An examination of the connection between math and science through discoveries in the subjects of astronomy, mechanics, physics and chemistry.